At London Soaring, we are a very friendly club. Our members and instructors are here to help you become comfortable around the field and will help you with any questions that you might have. Start your lessons on your first flight!

Whether you are a new pilot, power pilot or helicopter pilot, your in-flight instruction is tailored to your needs. Membership Fees

If you would prefer to try some training flights before committing, we offer a Four Pack which gives you a temporary membership and four instructional flights. Should you decided to continue your instruction, you will receive a partial credit from the Four Pack fees which can be applied to your Full LSC Membership fees. We instruct on weekends and holidays during the flying season, weather permitting.

Training

Start your training by coming out to the field and joining the club! Your in-flight instruction costs, glider rental and club house access are included in your membership fees.

At London Soaring, we carefully follow the glider training syllabus provided by the Soaring Association of Canada. A glider pilot ground school is required to obtain a pilot's licence but it is not necessary to have taken the ground school in order to fly as a student, or even fly solo with a student pilot's permit. A student must be at least 14 years old and can obtain his/her licence at 16 years old.

All of our instructors are licensed by Transport Canada and they volunteer to train our students. They bring a wealth of soaring knowledge and teaching experience to the club. They provide both "ab initio" (for those who haven't flown before) and power pilot conversion training.

To begin your training, you must have reasonably good health – a formal medical exam is needed only if you have had certain medical conditions. When you start your training you will need to buy two main resources at a small cost: 1. The instruction manual "SOAR and Learn to Fly Gliders" is a well written student guide that explains all of the lessons and techniques of the training program. 2. The "Glider Pilot Training Record" booklet is the student's personal training record. Here we will record your progress and ensure all exercises are completed.

Start flying right away! On your very first instructional flight, you will start learning to fly! You will learn how to use the flight controls to control the airspeed of the glider, bank the glider and fly cleanly through the air. Each lesson builds on previous lessons and you will gain confidence in your new skills. Instructional flights are on a first-come first-fly basis; however, you can have two flights in a row if that is appropriate.

Licensing

Students new to flying typically solo after 40-60 flights and obtain their licence after 30-40 more flights. Typically it takes two seasons to obtain a licence, although some keen students have done it in only one. Flight tests are provided by the club's Chief Flying Instructor and the written test is provided by Transport Canada. The licence grants legal privileges to fly any glider and to carry a passenger.

Beyond the Licence

You've earned your licence, now what? You may be content to pleasure fly around the field for a while, but most people want to move on. With more experience, you can get into passenger flying, instructing and cross-country flying.

Cross-country flying means flying beyond gliding distance of the airfield and can be roughly divided into pleasure flying, badge flying, contest flying and record attempts.